NEWSNUUS single-spaced printed text, bound into twelve hefty volumes. Dedi- consolidating these has been in progress - a monumental task made cated to Queen Victoria in 1897, a set was presented to King George easier by the use of computers (thanks to a generous donation from V, as well as to Calvin Coolidge, a United States President. British IBM). Certainly a far cry from the days of Murray’s Scriptorium with Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin, however, had to buy his own copy its pigeon holes holding thousands of slips. Simon Winchester points for No 10 Downing Street - he declared later that he consulted it on out, however, that this will be a work of such prodigious proportions an almost daily basis. The completion of the dictionary was celebrat- that it will probably never appear in print. No-one can be sure when ed by a grand dinner in London’s Goldsmith’s Hall, attended by 150 it will be completed, and it is possible that it could contain as many of the most distinguished minds of the era. as a million words. Such a work, should it be printed, could run to as The problem with a work such as this is that it is out of date even many as 40 volumes, each set weighing up to a ton, each printing before it has been completed. Five years after its completion, in consuming a vast number of trees. Surely it would be preferable, 1933, a supplement appeared, containing words ‘born too late for suggests Winchester, for ‘the wisdom of the Dictionary to be pur- inclusion’ in the original work: words such as aeroplane, appendicitis, veyed electronically, with no physical harm to anyone or anything at pacifist, and zooming, along with words which had evolved new all, and only the intellectual benefits derived from all those decades meanings in the intervening years, and those relating to new tech- of scholarship’. nologies which had not even existed at the time when the dictionary Whatever form it takes, however, the OED will remain the ulti- was first envisaged. Television appears in the 1928 edition, described mate example of what a dictionary should be. As a press report as ‘not yet perfected’. Radio receives a proper definition in the sup- declared soon after the completion of the 1928 edition: plement, instead of the passing reference in the 1928 version, to a Mr ‘The superiority of the Dictionary to all other English Dictionaries, Marconi and his ‘radio or coherer’. in accuracy and completeness, is everywhere admitted. The Oxford After the Second World War, under the direction of Robert Dictionary is the supreme authority, and without a rival. It is perhaps Burchfield, work was begun on another supplement which less generally appreciated that what makes the Dictionary unique is was finally completed in four-volumes in 1986. This meant that its historical method; it is a Dictionary not of our English, but of all there were now three separate, parallel alphabetical lists to be con- English; the English of Chaucer, of the Bible, of Shakespeare is un- sulted: the original 1928 edition, the 1933 Supplement, and the four- folded in it with the same wealth of illustration as is devoted to the volume Burchfield Supplement. Since the mid-90s, the process of most modern authors.’ MENSE Totsiens Tannie Marie LIBRARIES Tannie Marie Smit, of Ouma, soos sommige personeel haar genoem het, het van die jaar Nuut in Stellenbosch 2000 tot Oktober 2005 in Swellendam- Former SPA Libraries celebrate ’n Hartlike welkom aan Leslie Manuel in streek gehelp met allerhande take soos Despite facing many challenges the staff of Stellenboschstreek. Leslie het in Desember kataloguskaarte liasseer of trek, boeke lias- Southern Provincial Administration (SPA) 2005 as biblioteekassistent in die streek be- seer, kaarte kontroleer, afskrywings merk en provided an excellence service throughout gin, nadat die pos vir byna 16 maande vakant stempel, ensovoorts. 2005. was. Hy is egter nie ’n nuwe gesig in die Op 76-jarige ouderdom They were involved in training Biblioteekdiens nie, maar het reeds sedert het Tannie Marie, wat ook programmes for professional improve- soms in Paarl Biblioteek ge- ment, enhancement of service delivery help het, tussen Swellendam and simultaneously as a morale Openbare Biblioteek en die booster. streekbiblioteek uitgehelp. The Adult and Reference Interest Haar vrolike geaardheid, Group felt that the various achievements geselsies en hulpvaardig- of staff should not go unacknowledged heid word gemis. Sy was and an awards ceremony was planned by voorwaar ’n motivering a team consisting of the various inter- om dankbaar te wees est groups in the South. The result was vir alles in die lewe. Vir an event that was the first for the South haar was dit die grootste voorreg om in many ways. This awards ceremony Desember 2000 as algemene werker in die met al die boeke (haar kinders) te kon werk acknowledged the work that went in to Valsbaai Streekkantoor gewerk. Gedurende en was dit maar hartseersake as afskrywings becoming a team. It also showed the value die afgelope vyf jaar het hy nie net vir sy en oortollige boeke verwerk is. of our interest groups to the Library Service. matrieksertifikaat gekwalifiseer nie, maar is Nou woon sy in Yzerfontein en baljaar Jenny Hastings who was the facilitator of ook reeds besig met sy derde jaar deeltydse saam met haar kleinkinders langs die see. the Competency Performance Management studie vir die B Admin-graad aan die Univer- Ons mis jou, Tannie Marie, maar ons (CPM) Process in 2000 reminded us that the siteit van die Wes-Kaap. Ons hoop dat die wens jou goeie gesondheid en nog jare se South started off as a fragmented group of nuwe uitdaging nie net aangenaam sal wees vreugdes saam met die kleinkinders toe. libraries coming from different municipalities. nie, maar ook die geleentheid sal skep vir Dankie vir al die hulp - ons waardeer dit The CPM aimed to streamline activities by persoonlike groei en ontwikkeling. baie. cutting down functions to get to core func- tions and thereby avoiding duplication. Team Alida Zandberg Ronel Mouton building resulted in the establishment of Stellenboschstreek Swellendamstreek Kaapse Bibl., Jan/Feb 2006 3 NEWSNUUS now even easier to understand and instruc- tions are very clear - even those that are totally computer illiterate are able to follow its instructions! Users bring their own CDs and write any of the above software on these for free. The Business Corners users can also use the toaster to copy software for their businesses. The toaster has been used by a number of people so far, among them the elderly, teachers, business people and the curious. The library is not responsible for the up- keep of the machine, as there is a designated computer expert in Knysna who liaises with the Shuttleworth Foundation. Apparently it is the Foundation’s aim to provide many of the Toasters around the country in easily- Extension libraries doing it with will-power accessible venues for the public. Festive décor and soft piano music (by We are proud to have been chosen by Garth Asquith - a librarian alternating at Fish the Foundation to receive a toaster - Knysna Hoek and Simon’s Town Libraries) in the Library is a centre which does cater for background all added to make this occasion a diverse community and the toaster is a a very special one. The atmosphere was service to all. filled with a sense of anticipation. Lyn Steyn, our hostess of the evening, Tracy Goller extended a special welcome to Director Knysna Public Library Gert Bam, Library Manager Ninnie Steyn and District Two Manager, Cheryl Heymann Library suffers batty fate as well as our colleagues in the district. Mr One of Swaziland’s libraries has been closed Bam commended libraries on their team until further notice after the roof collapsed spirit and inspired all with his commitment under the weight of bat droppings. to teambuilding, innovation and the three E’s A number of bats found a home in of Jack Welch’s Jack Welch and the GE way: the ceiling of the library, which led to the Jenny Kriel, Laetitia Timmie and Marlene Energy, Energise and Edge. collapse of the ceiling as a result of an ac- Davids from Southfield Library gracing all with The evening ended with good music and cumulation of bats’ waste and soil that they their angelic voices grrreat food. brought in to build their nests, reported the Times of Swaziland. A source at the library Marianne Elliot stated that the library ceiling collapsed. It Southern Region was only then discovered that it had become Freedom toaster a haven for the bats. Fortunately the ceiling collapsed at night when no one was around. This funny sounding machine is a project The bats have apparently also left quite a sponsored by the Mark Shuttleworth foul smell in the library. foundation. There are currently only ten machines being used in South Africa with News24.com Knysna Library being one of the fortunate recipients. A Freedom toaster is: Linux BOOKS AND AUTHORS and open source software for the masses via a conveniently-placed ‘Bring ’n Burn’ Author stands by book facility. The following is available for toast- Random House will refund readers who ing: Ubantu 4.10; Mandarke 10; Fedora bought James Frey’s drug and alcohol Sharon Adams thanking Lyn Steyn for her core 3; Debian Sarge; K12 LTSP; Free BSD; memoir A million little pieces directly from dedication as acting manager Whitebox Respin; Gentoo 1.4; Slackware the publisher, after investigative web site The 10; Knoppix 3.6; Cluster Knoppix. Smoking Gun on Sunday reported that the the library forum and the monthly interest The toaster was used quite extensively book was full of exaggeration and inaccura- groups (See November/December 2004 is- in the first few weeks after installation.